Didier Queloz: the importance of getting it wrong

Today, we have the privilege of being joined by one half of the team behind what is arguably one of humankinds’ epochal breakthroughs – the first observation of a planet outside our solar system. Both a professor at the University of Zurich and Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy here at Cambridge, Didier Queloz began his research career by achieving the great aim of all PhD students; a publication in Nature. Since then, the techniques and instruments he pioneered have led to the identification of over 4,000 other exoplanets and revolutionised our understanding of planetary formation.His more recent work looks into the detection of earth-like planets, understanding their habitability, and the search for universal life more widely. He is now Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Life in the Universe here at Cambridge – an interdisciplinary hub looking at how life emerges, evolves, and persists in the cosmos.In the course of his career, he has published hundreds of papers and been recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the unarguably most famous of all scientific awards – the Nobel Prize, which he shared with Michel Mayor and James Peebles in 2019 "for contributions to our understanding of the evolution of the universe and Earth’s place in the cosmos".Together we talk about Didier's route into physics, his work looking at one of the profound questions of whether humankind is alone in the universe, and whether he replaced the bike that made him miss the call from the Nobel Prize committee.Useful links:To learn more about Didier's current research, visit Home | Leverhulme Centre for Life in the UniverseWatch Didier's interviews for The Nobel Prize: Didier Queloz – Interview - NobelPrize.orgShare and join the conversationHelp us get better by taking our quick survey. Your feedback will help us understand how we can improve in the future. Thank you!If you like this episode don’t forget to rate it and leave a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps others to find us.Any comment about the podcast or question you would like to ask our physicists, email us at podcast@phy.cam.ac.uk or join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #PeopleDoingPhysics.Episode creditsHost: Jacob ButlerRecording and editing: Chris BrockThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy